The Class 455 Farewell Tour

[sad1e]

Was the route taken by the Southern Farewell as long?

It went all the way down to Brighton as well as around the Southern Suburban lines so probably longer.

 

[Branch Line S]

Please see the BLS 2025 Tours thread and the BLS Website for all the info. As has been pointed out, no class 455 number has been quoted.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Anyways, there are ample toilets at Waterloo.

Not much good if you're trundling along the District line at East Putney or stuck somewhere behind a normal service train

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Nov 2025 ==

It has indeed been handed back to porterbrook so I reckon that this 5868 info is wibble. Surely it makes no sense to replace 455868s traction motors or whatever faulty parts led to its withdrawal.

Given that 5868 has been off the juice for so long, how long before something else goes wrong

 

[sad1e]

Not much good if you're trundling along the District line at East Putney or stuck somewhere behind a normal service train

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Nov 2025 ==


Given that 5868 has been off the juice for so long, how long before something else goes wrong

Aren't there some areas of 3rd rail at Litchurch lane. No idea if 5868 has been kept on them though.

 

[UP13]

Was the route taken by the Southern Farewell as long?

Anyways, there are ample toilets at Waterloo.

Taking my 8 year old with me, so trying to gauge how long he will have to hold it in for.

 

[frankmoh]

No start time from Waterloo is suggested in the publicity. Getting to Waterloo early on a Sunday is not that easy for some of us.... But having travelled on plenty of 455s I am not too excited about this tour anyway.

Was it not 10am? I seem to have that time written down on my phone although I couldn't tell you were from.

 

[cduncan]

Was it not 10am? I seem to have that time written down on my phone although I couldn't tell you were from.

I've looked back at the Southern one that was a 9am start but with this one being a Sunday I reckon a 10 or 11am start. I remember Southern had a few service 455s so anyone that missed getting tickets could ride those. Guildford via Weybridge is still majority 8 455 allocated unless if they changed it as is with 2F09 being a 10 701 on 2/11.

Taking my 8 year old with me, so trying to gauge how long he will have to hold it in for.

Presumably if the train starts/ends on P19 at Waterloo toilets shouldn't be far off. Opposite the large gateline and also down in the Sidings. The stations mentioned Kingston/Epsom/Haslemere does but can't see the opening hours for those.

All those will depend on the final itinerary of course.

 

[TFT YouTube]

Was the route taken by the Southern Farewell as long?

Anyways, there are ample toilets at Waterloo.

I'm not sure

 

[sad1e]

Was the route taken by the Southern Farewell as long?

Looking at Six Bells Junction the Southern farewell ended up being around 10 hours long , Apparently there were toilet breaks at Brighton.

Six Bells Junction

 

[hhsquidward]

I'd like to imagine the SWR one will be shorter because of the fact that 1. its a Sunday and 2. the sun goes down much earlier at this time of year.

 

[Mag_seven]

OK this thread will remain locked until such times as the units undertaking this tour have been confirmed.

The link to the tour with booking details I repeat here:

BLS Fixtures List

SWR are bidding farewell to their Class 455 fleet, as the last of the red trains are finally withdrawn after 42 years of service.

Built by British Rail Engineering Limited at their workshop in York between 1982 and 1985, they entered service on what is now SWR’s suburban network on Monday 28 March 1983. They have gone on to travel many millions of miles, transporting customers from the likes of Guildford, Twickenham and Windsor to and from London Waterloo.

In recognition of their role in the lives of millions of customers, their popularity with rail enthusiasts, and to mark the end of an era on the British railway network, SWR and the Branch Line Society will run a special charter service.

The 'Class 455 Farewell’ tour will include some familiar places on the suburban network, such as Epsom and Kingston, along with a few special routes and locations, such as the District Line’s branch between East Putney and Wimbledon, plus Haslemere on the Portsmouth Direct Line*.

400 tickets will go on sale on the Branch Line Society’s website at 11am on Monday 10 November, costing £45.50 each. The profits will go to three charities, The Alex Wardle Foundation, Macmillan, and The Railway Children.

Please check back for updates!

*The tour will start and finish at London Waterloo. The final route is subject to change and will be confirmed shortly before the date of the tour. More information will be available on the Fixtures page in due course.